Flood tadpole

This article's title is a callsign, an alias, or a nickname, as no proper name for the subject has been revealed.

One of the forms floating ominously in containment tank.

The "tadpole" is a Flood organism encountered by a Covenant special operations team in the Forerunner gas mine in the atmosphere of Threshold. They were sealed in a tank of liquid in the research area of the facility.^[1]^[2] The form is somewhat similar in appearance to the Pod infector, albeit smaller and slightly different in shape; true to its nickname, it has been implied that they are an earlier stage in the Pod infector's development.^[1]

History

Forerunner storage

The ancient Forerunners held "tadpoles" in containment facilities. 343 Guilty Spark notably flew by one on Installation 04

Human-Covenant War

During the great war, Rtas 'Vadmeee and his Covenant Special Operations task force stumbled across dozens of "tadpoles" swimming in a tank inside the Threshold gas mine, reminding him of a stench he had smelled before.

Production notes

The forms have never been given a formal name in any official source. Bungie level environment artist David Dunn used the descriptor "tadpole" to refer to them, and during the development of Halo 2, they were affectionately known as "Flood sea monkeys".^[1] This nickname was carried over to the Halo 2 game files, in which the creature's model and texture are identified with the designator "flood_cmonkey".^[3]
During the game's development, Vic DeLeon "broke" the forms, making them float all around the room.^[1]